Share this Page

Major improvement needed at Newcastle

Once again, the rollercoaster ride of being a Newcastle United fan took a downward dive as we were mauled by an impressive Manchester City at the Ethihad Stadium.

I don’t think any honest Toon fan expected to get much out of the game, however the apparent “I can’t be bothered” type of performance from the majority of the team is what seems to have sent the doom and gloomers on Tyneside into overdrive, and alarm bells set ringing for another season where we are going to struggle.

I’m a fan, but let’s be honest, if it wasn’t for Tim Krul and a perhaps sympathetic Linesman the score could have been far worse than the 4-0 that sent The Blues to the top of the league, and the Black and Whites to the bottom of the Premier League.

The beauty of TEAMtalk and FanZone is that real supporters can give their real opinions…so hold on to your footy scarves, meat pie and beefy tea as here comes mine.

For the avoidance of doubt, I’m not in the doom and gloom and relegation brigade but improvements must be made.

Potential Premier League and Champions League contenders Man City played multi-million pound players, and had £15m players sat on the bench….Newcastle didn’t.

Is it just me that realises that our squad is vastly inferior to that of the richest club in the world?

Alan Pardew’s claims of distractions following a bid for Yohan Cabaye was a cop out. The club are big enough to cope with that, and focus should be put on Newcastle’s inability to react, as well as Cabaye’s commitment and loyalty.

Players need to be proud to wear the Black and White stripes and give 100% from start to finish. Some players just simply “didn’t turn up”.

Debuchy was the worst I’ve seen him, Ben Arfa did ok but frustratingly needs to learn to pass and Steven Taylor’s actions that earned him a red card were simply inexcusable.

The playing staff and the boardroom need to act fast to stop an apathetic attitude if we are to achieve some sort of success this season. I think there will be worse teams than us this year, but the Toon Army certainly need to wake up and smell the Brown Ale if they don’t want to be involved in another dog fight like last season.

And now the positives…Tim Krul was awesome and Paul Dummett didn’t do himself any harm at all.

So rant over and lets look at the facts in the cold light of day. Man City played well and Newcastle were awful, however lets not jump to conclusions with regards to the season after just one game.

Our next game against West Ham and the winnable games that follow should lift the team and fans.

If they don’t get anything from those games and the lack of desire and transfer activity carries on, then I’m posting my application form to join the doom and gloom brigade.

Sort it out Pardew, that’s your job!

By Darren Williams, FanZone’s Chelsea blogger. Follow him on Twitter at @DazWilliams – and don’t forget to follow @FanZone too!